Four Thousand Island
Especially now during the dry season, when every day is pretty much guaranteed to be balmy and fine. Warm, but not to the point of exhaustion, since the moving water seems to keep the air flowing and there’s often a slight and delicious breeze.
The inhabitants seem a relaxed and happy-go-lucky bunch. Tourism clearly has done well by them, since they seem more affluent than the average person in the North of Laos. And though there is tourism, this is still a far cry from mass tourism.
Don’t get me wrong though - Laos is clearly a poor country. People don’t have a lot and struggle and often fail to ensure good education for their children and other necessities of life.
One small way in which this is apparent is that money is most definitely not spent on toys for children. Car tires and great for games, as is a bamboo stick with two lemons stuck on it for wheels (here being attacked by a ferocious dog), babies clutch sticks in their hands for toys and a very proud little boy just passed dragging a sand filled plastic bottle behind him on a bit of string. You work with what you’ve got.
The roads in Laos improve dramatically the further South one travels (one suspects the minister for roadworks is a Southern lad). So the little island of Don Khone, where I’m staying and the neighbouring Don Dat luxuriously have cement roads going round the island. This makes for a much cleaner and less dusty travel experience than dirt roads. The soil/sand throughout Laos is so fine, that it’s more like pink talcum powder - guaranteed to float up and coat absolutely everything.
Here the best mode of transport for tourists is bicycling. Locals wouldn’t be seen dead on a bicycle - let alone walking. It’s motorcycles all the way. Or, in these islands, sometimes boats. Here’s the local school bus.
The problem about cycling is that rental bikes here are a truly sad lot. I thought I had managed to find the pick of the bunch with the cheesy bicycle Fromage. Right until the seat came off that is.
But once you find a bike, within just a few kilometres of mostly flat and smooth road you have waterfalls,
Some of which you can soak under (photo courtesy of fellow traveler Marine),
Beaches
Fields, cows, pigs and chickens in pretty cages,
Villages, where fish are drying by the river
and tractors (or at least bits of them) transporting goods and children.
There are plenty of restaurants serving fruit shakes
Also present is a viewpoint, where the islands in the distance are already Cambodia.
But if you squint sideways at the viewpoint you may catch a glimpse of one of the contraversial dam building sites in Laos.
It is no surprise that it is the Chinese who are building the dams and undoubtedly getting the best part of the deal. But the powers that be in Laos are keen to show the dams as a proof of the progress of the country. The damned dam is even pictured on the 2000 kip note (worth 10 cents).
When I have tried to ask the few locals who speak English what they think of the dams, they shrug and say: ”someone is making money”.
That someone is clearly not them. One highly suspects that the pockets being lined are further up the food chain. But the consequences are for everyone to bear. Already the local ”big waterfall” is looking very drained - since the Chinese diverted a major part of its water flow to new routes, that benefit their dam. Due to the extensive explosion work during the building of the dam, the highly endangered irrawaddy dolphin has disappeared from these regions, though hopeful tour operators still hang faded dolphin tour signs in their windows. Luckily they have alternative tours on offer now that the dolphins are gone (I always wondered what the allure of fishing was).
Sadly, all good things come to an end. And so this is my last stop in Laos before starting to work my long and winding way back towards Bangkok and the return flight. But for a few more precious moments this place is mine. I leave you with the view from my guesthouse’s restaurant, where I spend mornings and sunsets sipping watermelon shakes and watching the world spin on its axis.
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